The Great Bandit of Journey to the West

Chapter 178 Passing Through Chechi Kingdom

Two days after leaving Yuhua Prefecture, Jiang Feng and his group arrived at the territory of Chechi Kingdom.

Along the way, Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing bickered constantly, arguing about whose disciple would be the most skilled in martial arts when they returned from stealing the scriptures.

In the midst of their usual quarrel, Wukong suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, "Master, I forgot to give my new disciple a Dharma name!"

Jiang Feng calmly replied, "I knew you would forget. I had already prepared the documents for them."

Wukong asked curiously, "What Buddhist names did you give the three of them?"

Jiang Feng smiled slightly: "The eldest prince's name is 'Accommodation,' the second prince's name is 'Making do,' and the third prince's name is 'High Position.'"

Wukong scratched his face, completely bewildered. "Master, why are they using the 'jiu' generation name? This generational naming convention is different from what you said before, isn't it?"

Jiang Feng patiently explained, "What I taught you before was the inner sect hierarchy of the Wishing Temple. The three of them are nominal disciples, and they have a different nine-character hierarchy, starting with the character '就', which together means 'Let this heavy rain all fall down~'"

Listening to Jiang Feng's chanting, Wukong fell into deep silence:

As for the hierarchy of the Wishing Temple, did you just make it up wherever you thought of it?

You probably forgot the generational order you made up before and came up with a new one on the spot, didn't you?

While Wukong was filled with doubt, a group of monks carrying stones appeared in front of him.

The group of monks worked hard under the scorching sun, chanting "Mighty King Bodhisattva," while several young Taoist priests with leather whips followed by them.

Seeing this, Jiang Feng couldn't help but exclaim, "Chechi Kingdom is truly a land of outstanding people and abundant resources, with simple and honest customs. It's such a harmonious scene to see a monk and a Taoist priest working together!"

Bai Suzhen's beautiful eyes widened as she said, "Are your eyes alright? There were clearly only monks working, with Taoists supervising from the sidelines. Look, they're even whipping the monks!"

Jiang Feng said without changing his expression, "They just have different roles. No matter where they are, there always needs to be someone supervising them while they're working, right?"

Bai Suzhen rolled her eyes and said, "Aren't you afraid that if you defend the Taoists like this, they'll arrest you, the monk, and make you work too?"

Jiang Feng said righteously and sternly: "Most of these monks nowadays do not engage in production. They only think about swindling money from the people for incense offerings. Arresting them for labor reform is a good deed."

As for what you said about arresting me to do work, they arrested monks, what does that have to do with me, the Taoist Priest of Peace?

Bai Suzhen was startled and turned to look at Jiang Feng. She saw that he had changed into a yellow Taoist robe at some point, holding a whisk, and had the air of a venerable immortal.

Seeing Bai Suzhen's blank stare, Jiang Feng smiled and recited his Taoist name: "May the Heavenly Venerable grant me boundless blessings. I am Jiang Feng, the younger brother of Emperor Yang Guang of the Great Sui Dynasty, and hold the official position of the Supreme Commander of all monks and Taoists in the land. My Taoist name is Taiping Zhenren."

This trip was undertaken with the emperor's decree, specifically to travel to the Western Paradise to preach and spread Buddhist teachings.

Bai Suzhen couldn't help but complain, "Even your transformation magic isn't as flexible as your identity! Do you have any bottom line at all?!"

Wukong laughed so hard he almost fell over, but after a while he stopped laughing and asked, "Master, I'm a bit ignorant. Who is this Mighty King Bodhisattva that these monks are talking about?"

Jiang Feng looked at Wukong with a complicated expression: "The title they are chanting is Mighty Bright King Bodhisattva. His image is that of someone wearing a tiger skin skirt and holding a vajra staff. That's roughly what he looks like." As he spoke, he took out a mirror and placed it in front of Wukong.

Wukong immediately realized: "Ah, the Bodhisattva they're talking about is me, Old Sun?"

"If I'm not mistaken, they are asking you for help. I just don't know which deity arranged this. Come with me and ask them."

Upon approaching, Jiang Feng revealed his identity as the Taiping Zhenren, referring to Wukong and the others as his servants.

The young Taoist priests, having seen many instances of monks being taken in as servants in Chechi Kingdom, found nothing strange about it.

Upon learning that Jiang Feng was a True Man bestowed with the title by the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, he was filled with reverence and revealed all the reasons why they had enslaved the monks.

"Three years ago, our Chechi Kingdom suffered a severe drought. His Majesty the King summoned all the monks and Taoist priests in the country to hold an altar to pray for rain, but in the past two or three months, neither side has been able to bring rain."

At this moment, three Taoist immortal masters suddenly appeared and used the Taoist Five Thunder Technique to bring rain. They were then appointed as national teachers by His Majesty.

These three imperial advisors possessed extraordinary abilities; they could not only pray for rain, but also turn stone into gold and water into oil. Most importantly, they were also experts in alchemy, capable of granting His Majesty immortality.

From then on, His Majesty promoted Taoism and suppressed Buddhism. Heeding the request of the Imperial Preceptor, he destroyed temples and arrested monks from all over the country to build Taoist temples.

A reward was offered: officials who captured a monk would be promoted three ranks, and commoners who captured a monk would be rewarded with fifty taels of silver.

The young Taoist priest looked at Jiang Feng excitedly and said, "You are a Taoist master from the Great Sui Dynasty. His Majesty will be overjoyed to see you and will bestow upon you much gold and silver!"

Jiang Feng smiled and nodded, handing him a gold bean and saying, "Go and call a monk over; I need to ask him some questions."

The young Taoist priest happily accepted the gold beans and soon summoned a middle-aged monk.

Upon inquiry, the monk's account was exactly the same as the young Taoist's, except that there was an additional element of a deity relaying a message to them.

The monk stared at Wukong with excitement and said, "Not long ago, Taibai Jinxing, Liuding Liujia and the Dharma Protectors came together and said that a powerful Bodhisattva wearing a tiger skin skirt and holding a Vajra cudgel would come to save us soon."

Elder, are you the Mighty King Bodhisattva they speak of?

You've mistaken me for someone else.

Jiang Feng sighed with regret, then drew a portrait of Fan Shaohuang and handed it to the monk: "Look carefully, this is the Mighty King Bodhisattva."

The monk stared blankly at the portrait before him, which depicted a man with bulging muscles, and muttered, "This Bodhisattva... one can tell at a glance that he has great strength."

Before he could react, Jiang Feng led Wukong and the others and disappeared in a flash, leaving the monk standing there in a daze, holding the portrait.

"The Bodhisattva in this painting isn't wearing a tiger-skin skirt, so which one is the real Mighty King Bodhisattva?!"

After running for more than ten miles in one go, Jiang Feng slowed down and walked towards the city gate that was just a stone's throw away.

Wukong asked curiously, "Master, why didn't you let me save those monks?"

This time, the Heavenly Court, Buddhism, and Taoism have all sent people to ask us to save these monks. Wouldn't it be better for us to do them a favor?

Jiang Feng glanced at him and said, "What's the point of saving this group of monks who neither produce anything nor know how to pray for rain?"

Follow me to the palace. I, a humble Taoist, must clean house for the Taoist sect and send the Taoist priests from Chechi Kingdom who cannot pray for rain here for labor reform.

"

Wukong's eyes lit up as he said, "That's a great idea! The overseer will become a coworker in the blink of an eye, and the sight of them staring at each other will be hilarious!"

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